


Wanna Make Purple?

by thenakednymph



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Flirty Lance, Fluff, Get Together, M/M, No Angst, This needs more work but fuck it, flustered keith, holi day, klance, remember that scene in the haunchback of notre dame?, yeah it’s basically that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-28 03:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20419298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenakednymph/pseuds/thenakednymph
Summary: Alien Holi Day and flirty Lance.





	1. Chapter 1

Lance steps out of the small round building he’d been pulled into. They look to be mad of daub and wattle, the surface a peeling dusty white, built over a number of poles to form the dome. They’re small but comfortable, the interior clean and modern feeling, light filtering down through the material on the surface like one way glass. There’s a panel next to the door to adjust the settings. Lance finds he likes it. The white bothers him, he usually likes more color, but he has to admit it’s nice. 

Ducking out the door he sees Keith across the way, stepping out of his own small dome. They make eye contact and gravitate towards one another, weaving through the bustle of aliens all around. 

They’re both wearing variations of the same white robes as everyone else, watching curiously as excitement buzzes in the air. 

“Have you figured out what this celebration is for yet?” Keith asks, barely avoiding being trampled by two children racing each other to get to the center of town, giggling and laughing. They only come up to his hip at their tallest. 

The whole city is alive with laughter and joy, so potent Lance can feel it over his skin. 

Lance shakes his head, turning in a stumbling circle, trying to piece everything together. In direct contrast to the small domes there are buildings stacked on top of one another, cut from some kind of sandstone. Warm colors drape the walls and flowers spill in garlands from the windows. 

Lance wonders if the small domes are something like hotels or guest houses. 

“Not yet. They’ve been pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing, but whatever it is they’re all pretty excited about it.” Lance can feel the energy in the place vibrating through him as if the ground is shaking, making his hair stand on end.

“And it’s not like they’re not talking to be mean you know? It’s more like they’re planning a surprise party or something. It’s obvious this is some kind of festival but I’m not sure what it is yet.”

A gong sounds, causing both of them to look up and there’s an explosion of sound from the city square, startling them. A wild cheer goes up followed by a cloud of colors bursting into the air and Lance grins, his heart lunging in his chest. 

“I think it’s Holi Day.” His breath shallows and his cheeks flush as adrenaline surges through him. 

“It’s what now?” Keith blinks at him, still confused. 

Lance turns to him, a wide giddy smile on his face. He’s practically vibrating in place. 

“Holi Day! It’s the Hindu celebration of color and spring back on Earth.” He gestures to the assembly amassed ahead of them as they make their way towards the noise.

“This must be something similar!” He grabs Keith’s hand, yanking him toward the center of town where everyone has gathered. “Come on!”

Before they can get much further than the end of the alley they’re standing in, there’s a shout behind them. 

“Paladins!” Lance skids to a halt, Keith’s hand still in his. 

They both turn and are hit with a basketful of vibrant pigment. Keith sputters indignantly, coughing and reeling backward, his hand slipping from Lance’s to wave away the dust. He’s covered in a vivid splash of red, eyes wide and surprised. A slash of color over his eyes brings them sharply into contrast, bright and violet.

Lance cackles, loud and bright, his heart swelling with joy so fiercely it threatens to overwhelm him. The blue streaking through his hair and across his face, painting his robes is startling against the white of the fabric, bold and beautiful and Keith can’t stop staring.

The two aliens behind them laugh merrily, sweeping them both up by the arms and running into the square to begin the dance.

~

Each Paladin is separated by color into groups of other aliens matching them. They form circles within circles, a wave of sound Lance can feel beneath his bare feet making his heart soar and his skin prickle. Laughter and music and the rhythmic slapping of feet against stone fills the air as they begin to dance. He picks up the steps quickly, the aliens eager to teach him. And then the circles are breaking apart, joining with and weaving between one another, a riot of color all around. Lance can’t help thinking it must be beautiful from the air and he mourns his inability to fly. 


	2. Chapter 2

Lance loses track of how long they’ve been dancing but when he stumbles across Keith he doesn’t hesitate to grab him. Keith is laughing, his whole face bright with it as Lance spins him around, pulling them both out of the dance and into one of their own, a tangled weave of red and blue isolated from all the others. They’re both sweaty and breathless, their muscles aching but they’re happy. 

Keith grins up at him all lopsided and pleasantly exhausted, a flush to his cheeks that has nothing to do with the powder. Lance has a smear of blue pigment across his mouth and not even thinking Keith reaches up, trying to wipe it away. He only succeeds in smearing red over top of it.

“You’re a mess,” he teases and Lance can hear the laughter in his voice. He pulls Keith into a stumbling dance, unable to keep still, spinning them both around. 

“So are you.” There’s red covering him from head to foot, Lance’s fingers and hands leaving smears through it, tinting him violet where they touch. They twirl and Lance giggles, smearing more blue through the red. 

“Hey Keith, wanna make purple?” He wiggles his eyebrows and Keith laughs softly. He shrugs lazily, violet eyes sparkling and soft. Lance has never seen him so relaxed. It takes his breath away.

“Sure.”

Lance nearly stumbles, drawing them to a halt and staring in surprise, his hand still in Keith’s, the other on his waist. He’s so shocked by the casual answer it’s all he can do to stare, his brain short circuiting and unable to form coherent thoughts.

At Lance’s expression Keith’s face falls and he looks mortified. He flushes under the pigment until Lance can’t tell the difference between the two, that relaxed light in his eyes and posturing vanishing.

_ No, no, no, come back. _ The easy camaraderie between them shatters like a stone through a window, so abrupt and visceral Lance can feel it but he can’t make his mouth work to try and fix it.

“You were kidding,” Keith says weakly, stepping away and Lance can see the embarrassed pain in his eyes, the immediate regret. His hand is trembling in Lance’s a moment before he pulls it away and Lance is too dumbstruck to stop him. 

“Oh my god,” Keith breathes, wiping a hand over his mouth. He smears blue everywhere from where his hand was resting on Lance’s shoulder. 

“You were kidding.” 

Keith’s eyes dart around, suddenly feeling trapped amid the press of bodies all around them, deafened by the noise. He can’t breathe.

“Because of course you were kidding. I-” He stakes a stumbling step away. “Forget it, I shouldn’t have-”

He chokes, making to run when Lance grabs him again, holding tight. Keith tries to extricate himself from Lance’s grasp, his sleeves turning deep purple. 

He struggles and Lance forces his brain to make the words go before Keith can knock him on his ass and bolt; Lance is very afraid he might.

“Yeah,” he rasps, “I was kidding.” His heart pounds and Keith flinches, actually flinches, and Lance scrambles to hold on, hurrying to finish before he loses his grip and Keith can slip away. 

“I’m not now.” 

Keith freezes, his body still rigid and twisted away where Lance is holding him, both of them breathing heavily. It feels like an eternity passes before he looks up and Lance swallows, barely able to look him in the eye, suddenly equally terrified. But the least he can do is go out on a limb after all but humiliating Keith, no matter how inadvertent it had been. 

His eyes, once so open and happy are shuttered and afraid and Lance knows Keith’s scrambling to build the walls up around his heart again before he can get hurt; if he hasn’t been already.

Lance’s hands flex on Keith’s sleeves, violet blooming all over his robes where they’ve been struggling. 

“Do you-” His voice rasps and he has to swallow again, dry throat clicking. He flushes hotly, a wave of cold terror rippling up his spine and leaving him in a sweat. 

“Do you wanna make purple?” 

Keith still looks ready to run, half crouched and turned away, Lance shifting his grip to Keith’s forearms. 

“I’m not kidding this time,” Lance says again, expression earnest and heartfelt and Keith lifts his head a little higher. His fingers flex and Lance can feel the pull and shift of tendon and muscle beneath his hands. 

Keith bites his lip and Lance’s grip on him tightens a little desperately.  _ Please don’t run,  _ he mentally begs, unable to get the words out, desperately searching his eyes. 

The silence is killing him. 

Keith looks away.

“Yeah,” he admits weakly, still flushed with embarrassment, stomach in knots, adrenaline pounding through him. 

“Oh thank god.” Keith looks up just in time as Lance grabs him, planting a kiss right on his mouth, smearing pigment everywhere. 

Keith makes a startled noise, eyes wide and staring blankly before he processes what’s happening and sinks into Lance. His eyes flutter closed with a soft sigh as Lance kisses him. 

His hands come up to curl loosely in Lance’s robes, his grip slowly tightening as want curls inside him, pulling Lance closer. Lance’s arms slip around his waist, hands pressing into Keith’s spine until they’re chest to chest, his knees going weak. 

Keith’s hands slide up to cup Lance’s jaw, changing the angle, coaxing Lance into something a little deeper, leaving a trail of fingerprints over his skin wherever they touch. 

Lance’s hair is soft when Keith runs his fingers through it the way he’s been day dreaming of. It sends up a cloud of blue, both of them half choking on the dust and breaking apart to breathe. 

Lance coughs, waving the cloud away, trying not to sneeze. They’re both smeared in streaks of red and blue and purple, a spattering of Lance’s pigment across Keith’s cheeks that makes him smile. 

“You’ve got blue freckles.” Lance purses his lips in a smile, tilting his head to the side and studying them, wishing he had a camera on him. He settles for committing the image to memory instead. He pokes Keith’s cheek. 

“Cute.” 

Keith pouts and Lance giggles, catching his face in his hands. He smears the two colors together, thumbs arching up under Keith’s eyes and towards his temples leaving a trail of bright purple in his wake. The color frames Keith’s eyes so beautifully Lance aches. His expression goes terribly soft, Keith watching him curiously. 

“What?”

Lance pulls his hands away, showing Keith his purple thumbs. 

“Matches your eyes.”

Keith flushes and looks away which only makes Lance giggle. He presses a kiss to Keith’s forehead, leaving a very visible violet imprint behind, if the color on their mouths wasn’t enough of an indication already. 

He takes Keith’s wrist, darting between the dancers and towards the outer edge of the festivities, pulling Keith along behind him as the music pounds.

“Come on.” 

Keith turns his arm, breaking the grip but before Lance can complain Keith is slipping his hand into Lance’s. He matches speed with him and Lance grins. 

“Where are we going?”

Lance looks at him over his shoulder, eyebrows wiggling suggestively. “To make purple.”


End file.
